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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578288">tips for surviving rock n' roll</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharking/pseuds/Sharking'>Sharking</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>All For The Game - Nora Sakavic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Abusive Relationships, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe - Rock Band, Angst, Band Fic, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Genderfluid Character, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Mild Gore, Rocker Andrew, Soft Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, the monsters - Freeform</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:07:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578288</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sharking/pseuds/Sharking</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's important to remember that everyone's life on the run will be different. No one person has the right idea. But hopefully these tips will help you stay alive and keep whoever you're running from off your heels. </p><p>Here are 15 tips to stay alive and keep on running.</p><p>WARNING - Falling in love with a drummer is not advised, but if it happens, it happens</p><p>-</p><p>Each chapter is centered on a tip, the tips are out of order but the story is mostly continuing action</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Allison Reynolds/Renee Walker (All For The Game), Kevin Day/Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard, Matt Boyd/Danielle "Dan" Wilds, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>36</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>tips for surviving rock n' roll</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This will contain references to the foxes past, the first chapter doesn't just a heads up for future chapters</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tip 12</p><p>If You've Already Been Caught Up To Ignore Tip 3<br/>
Need to Disappear? A crowd is your best bet</p><p> </p><p>He had needed money. It was a stupid reason to risk becoming known. Stupid and reckless. His two most appropriate descriptors. He could practically feel the clawing of blunt nails at his scalp pulling him away from the music festival. Instead he kept walking forward. It's not like he could stop, even if he wanted to. The man on the other end of the platform he was carrying was setting the pace. If Neil stopped the platform would be pulled from his hands and fall to the grass below them. He couldn't stop. Besides this is exactly what he was being paid for. </p><p>The other guy nodded his head towards a pile of other gear, as if they hadn't been lugging things to this exact location the whole time. The man who gave Neil the job was paying below minimum wage but it was a short in-and-out type of deal that paid in cash so Neil didn't complain. He'd been partnered up with the only other worker who hadn't been assigned a job yet , who just so happened to be 7 or so inches taller than Neil. He held the platforms higher so the guy wouldn't have to make any adjustments.</p><p>He hadn't been Neil before the man hiring him had asked his name. On long bus rides he came up with a million potential names. John, Ryan, Cole. When some creep said he was a pretty little girl he even considered some girl names, Danielle, Monica, Cary. He stored the questions that list brought up far far away in his mind. </p><p>He had just been Stewart, asking strangers for tampons "for his sister". In reality they were to plug up the bullet wound hidden in his thigh. That had been at least three weeks ago and upon further research he was glad no one had given him a tampon. The internet told him that was a stupid idea. The staples held nicely anyway.</p><p>Stewart was nice. He and his sister lived just outside of town and he was doing school online. No one really cared about him. Until aforementioned creep began to care a little too much about him. He had broken his nose in the big freezer of the local gas station and ran. </p><p>So now he was Neil. Neil Josten. It had a good ring to it, like an author. That was another favorite pastime of Neil's. Imagining his life if he had normal parents with normal jobs and never had to run. He imagined he'd write books. He didn't know about what, maybe a boy on the run or maybe a girl. </p><p>The man began to squat down, setting the platform onto of the previously stacked one. Roland, the other boy, shook out his arms and chuckled, "Damn, you don't even seem affected by this. You must be strong." He walked over and motioned to jokingly squeeze Neil's bicep. He shifted away with his eyebrows furrowed(narrowly avoiding a flinch) and Roland froze, "Oh shit sorry. Andrew's always telling me off for being too handsy with strangers." He flashed a smile but Neil just thought back to freezers and cartilage beneath his elbow, "Oh haha not like that. I'm not a perv or anything."</p><p>And just then the other group carrying platforms, two medium height women who were both very strong looking, arrived and held there's sideways. </p><p>"What a conversation to walk into." Said the one who was had dark skin and bright eyes. The other was Asian and entirely too covered up for the heat of the day. Well Neil was almost covered up the same amount, he tried to stay out of her reach during the entirety of the job.</p><p>"Roland could you attach the legs, uh sorry what was your name?" he had heard someone call her Dan before and he wondered if it was short for Danielle. It took him a moment to realize he was being addressed, "Oh me? Neil." He tried to play it off and only the well-covered one didn't seem to buy it. If she was dangerous she wasn't hiding it very well. Neil wondered what she was trying to pretend to be and why?</p><p>"Well Neil once these suckers have the legs attached we're gonna be carrying them over to that concrete slab," she pointed to a place unfortunately far away, he must have been making a face because she just chuckled, "Time to work for that pay huh?" She turned from him to address the group like it was a team or a battalion instead of three sweaty young adults.</p><p>"Roland, you're on leg duty. Neil you and Renee will be carrying the platforms back and forth. I'll be down there pushing them together and organizing them. Everyone know their jobs?"</p><p>Renee must have been the Asian woman, "Seniority working in your favor once again. I see how it is." Dan shoved her lovingly and they both laughed. Then she looked his way and motioned for him to take his place on one side of the platform. Roland already had 3 out of the 4 legs attached. He seemed to have done this before, they all seemed to have done this before. Renee turned to address him, "We can alternate me holding it low and you holding it high."</p><p>He held back a scowl and just nodded. Better to be unimportant than anything else. </p><p>The slab as it turns out was about a minute and a half walk away. He was sweating by the time he got there, she didn't look phased. He had always been more stamina than brute strength. He was still confident he could outrun her if things went poorly. He prayed things didn't go poorly until after Wymack, the man who hired him, handed him his pay. </p><p>Dan and a man Neil hadn't met yet took the platform from them. He was very tall. He might have been black too, though his skin was lighter than Dan's. He looked strong and probably fast. He and Renee walked back to the pile in silence. They took another platform at the same speed, this time Renee held it low and Neil didn't realize how nice it was to hold it at the correct height for him. He wouldn't let Renee see how he rolled out his shoulder afterwards.</p><p>This time, on the way back up the hill, Renee broke the silence, "Do you listen to their music?"</p><p>Neil kept his eyes on the grass in front of him, keenly aware of where she was in his peripherals, "Who's music?"</p><p>He knew he was coming across more clipped than he intended, he couldn't help it. Something about this girl just set his warning signs off. If his mom was here they'd have been on a bus by now.<br/>
She didn't laugh at Neil's response but her face gave an impression of amusement. "The band. The one we're setting up for? The Monsters?"</p><p>And this was a turn of events. He really didn't know what job he was applying for, only that the listing had manual labor and same day pay on it. He hadn't even thought to consider why he was doing heavy lifting in a grass field adjacent to a music festival.</p><p>Stupid.</p><p>"No I haven't listened to them."</p><p>Not actively anyway. He'd heard their one big radio hit on the radio plenty of times. For a month it was on every frequency you tried. It was unavoidable. It was. . . Frankly it was a good song. Overplayed maybe, but good.</p><p>"We're all roadies. Doesn't it seem like there shouldn't be roadies in this day and age." She laughed like she was saying something funny, "One of our guys, Seth, had to go to rehab so we needed extra help for this show. That's where you came in."</p><p>He said, "Okay." Didn't know what type of response was expected of him.</p><p>They set up the stage, it was now clear that's what it was, in about an hour. It was grueling but rewarding. Before there was a slab and now there was a stage, kind of. It felt like the sort of thing that would collapse while a children's choir was on it. The injured would probably be invited to Ellen.</p><p>He hoped the band wasn't planning on jumping around or anything like that. He doubted Ellen would be sympathetic towards some early 20 punks.</p><p>It was maybe 2 when the band's van pulled up next to Wymack's truck. Neil was sitting on the opposite side in the shade of it when they arrived. On the other side of the truck loud noises practically bulged from the vehicle. If there was a stereotypical "band" soundclip, this would be it.</p><p>Neil peeked under the tires of Wymacks car to try and count the amount of legs he saw, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven? That didn't make sense. Unless one of them was an amputee or somethi-</p><p>"Peeping are we?"</p><p>And Neil whipped around so fast he banged his head on the underside of Wymacks truck. A resounding thunk came with the impact. The man in front of him didn't wince, anyone else would have. Neil looked up at a small blonde man who was built. He looked strong. Neil didn't like his odds against him.</p><p>"Wymack's new stray looks ready to scratch my eyes out." He directed his voice to the other members who Neil guessed were rounding the front of the truck.</p><p>"I'm not anyone's anything."</p><p>"How defensive, let's on more than you think red."</p><p>"Shut the fuck up."</p><p>Before their lovely conversation could continue a woman's voice trilled through the air, "Andrew! Makeup now or later?"</p><p>A blonde girl rounded the corner or the truck clearly not expecting to see Neil there. Andrew flicked his ash to the ground. He hadn't noticed he'd been smoking.</p><p>"Am I interrupting boys?"</p><p>She had a lilt to her voice that Neil couldn't track. He looked between who must've been Andrew and the blonde. Well they both were blonde but when Andrew stood in the proximity of this woman, he was no longer The Blonde in the room.</p><p>"Now is fine." He said and he walked away from Neil, purposefully not looking at him. It made Neil mad mad mad. Unreasonably so. He wasn't left to stew in his own anger for too long as Roland called him over to the bands van. </p><p>They moved more Amps than anyone could possibly need. He and Renee were once again teamed up. He wondered if she had requested it or if it was just dumb fate. </p><p>"Have you met any of the guys yet?"</p><p>She had an easy smile on her face. He wished it didn't look so genuine. </p><p>"Andrew."</p><p>And her smile intensified, maybe trying to make up for something, "Well that's nice. You'll get a chance to meet the others after the show, we all have dinner together."</p><p>Neil couldn't hold back his scowl, "I won't be staying."</p><p>Renee laughed, "I didn't think I was going to either. That was two months and 9 states ago." They set the amp on the stage and turned back towards the van. Neil wouldn't let his fatigue show but this was taking a tole on his arms. </p><p>"I have a question."</p><p>And she inclined her head towards him, prompting him to continue, "Andrew called me one of Wymack's strays? What does that mean?" And they walked a while before she answered. Neil almost thought she wasn't going to at all.</p><p>"Well, Wymack is their manager. has been even before Kevin joined them. He has a habit of giving people jobs who need it the most. Helps them find a reason to stick around, or a reason to leave wherever they're at. Gives them an escape. Andrew probably thinks you needed one and Wymack gave you one."</p><p>They picked up the next amp in silence. Neil had to get out of there as soon as he had his money. He would not become one of Wymack's. He wouldn't stick around to be known. No one would know who he was, what he needed, or why. Especially not Andrew.</p><p>When they set the amp down Andrew was setting up his drum kit.  Neil purposefully avoided his eyes. Decided he wouldn't give the man any ammunition. No matter what. </p><p>-</p><p>By the time everything was set up it was around 4. Their set started at 6 and people had already started to show up. This must have been the smallest of a few stages. The other's had been set up before Neil had arrived. There was the makeshift stage, a little gap between the stage and the barricade, and then just a swarm of people. And there was still a long time until they went on. Dan had told him the gap was for security. Matt and Renee were their personal security and the festival provided some too. It was weird. He hadn't expected them to need any. </p><p>Allison, the blonde woman from before was their opener. She traveled with the band and warmed up the crowd from 5:15 to 6. He had expected her to be some pop star type from how she had dressed before but she stepped up onto the stage in a ripped black t-shirt with fishnet sleeves, a red Toole skirt, three inch black heels, and a smearing of black eye makeup. Neil didn't know shit but he did know she looked very Rock'n Roll. His mom would've called her a whore. </p><p>She had a red guitar in her hands and the first note surged through the air like crazy. Maybe all those amps were doing something. Neil hadn't listened to any live music before. He had no baseline. But this was really fucking cool. He heard her yell a countdown and then </p><p>It was</p><p>It was insane. Neil was by Wymack's truck, at least a football field's length away. She was so powerful. The music was loud and angry and sounded like it was directed right at him. And the crowd was a moving mass of maybe a thousand people. They crowded forward and jumped and yelled her name. This was fucking crazy!</p><p>He hadn't realized a small smile had crept onto his lips before he felt someone step next to him, "Got a crush, red?"</p><p>Neil turned to Andrew who had a piece of pizza hanging out of his hand, one of the many Wymack had bought for the band and crew. He had black smudged the same way Allison had. It looked cool. The music surrounded them. Neil just smiled at Andrew that same small smile he couldn't pull from his mouth, "I didn't know it could be like this." And he turned back to the stage. She was walking across it like it was nothing. Fuck that was cool. </p><p>"What, Music?" Neil just nodded in response. </p><p>"Just you wait shorty."</p><p>Andrew walked away with something to prove. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hope you enjoyed!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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